Giordano’s Andrea Chénier : A Short Guide To A Great Opera

Giordano's Andrea Chénier, which was premièred at La Scala in March, 1896, is a tale about the French Revolution: Maddelena, an‘aristocrat'falls in love with the poet André Chenier and follows him to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.A servant, disgusted with the contrast of wealth between poverty in France, is also in love with her. After a duel between the men, the servant is tries to save both her and his rival, but fails.Andrea Chénier was composed in the same ‘verismo'realistic style as Puccini's Tosca, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, in which violence, murder, and sex are to the fore, and which the forceful music emulates.The title role therefore enables strong so-called ‘lirico-spinto'tenors to star. Caruso, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti have done recordings of the opera or its excerpts.Colour is added by references to real-life revolutionaries such as Robespierre, and Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor. And the music includes the revolutionary song, Ça ira, and the revolutionary dance, the Carmagnole.